Approved by the What’s Up Moms Medical Advisory Board
Your baby’s on the move and rolling around – or at least she’s on her way there, lifting her head and chest with that upward-dog precursor. Awesome/not awesome, because it’s time now to BABYPROOF. Even if you think you don’t need to do it this exact minute, crawling comes next, and taking care of babyproofing should happen before the moment you absolutely need it.
Before you start stressing about how no one in your household is handy and this seems like a massive home improvement project and when could you possibly have time for this for goodness sake you just want a nap and what is babyproofing anyway….. Just take a deep breath. This, you can do.
Depending on where you live you may also have access to a babyproofing company (yes, these exist – the perks of parenting in the modern era). If you can afford it, we recommend a mix and match approach. That is, hire out for the most time-intensive tasks like putting latches on cabinets and drawers – and maybe also some brawny jobs like strapping big pieces of furniture to the wall or sussing out tricky gate situations. On your own, tackle the easy stuff, like scouring all rooms for small chokeable objects (on all fours – we’re not kidding), covering or changing electrical outlets, putting bumpers on sharp edges, and adding a toilet lock, for starters. Now’s a good time to set the thermostat on your hot water heater to not exceed 120 degrees, and cover faucet spouts with anti-scald devices. If you have a pool make sure it’s gated on all sides and locked at all times.
If you can, do it all in a weekend or even one day. That’s what you call ripping off the band-aid.
